Gliese 581 d
by jaqueline-littlebird
Summary: Earth is not the only planet in the Midgard universe. Jane makes contact with another civilization that was visited by Thor and Loki in the past. She finds out that Thor is not the hero everywhere, and Loki not the villain either.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Written for a prompt on Norsekink LJ, essentially: Loki and Thor visited severals planets over time. Some primitives there remember Thor as the good guy, others Loki.

Besides, as far as I can tell, Loki seems to be the closest to a god of crafts the Norse pantheon has. God of fire, builder of sheds, inventor of the fishing net, and able milkmaid (okay, they rather disapproved of the latter).

Disclaimer: Marvel's, not mine.

Music: „Space Oddity" by David Bowie

**Gliese 581 d**

Not long after the Asgardians had left New York, professor Foster, now working at the European Southern Observatory in Chile (ESO), made contact with an alien civilization. Sadly, it wasn't Asgard. Luckily, not the Chitauri either.

She and her team traced the mini-wormhole back to Gliese 581 d, a watery planet of approximately six times the Earth's mass in the constellation Libra, circling in the habitable zone of its red dwarf star, merely twenty lightyears away.

Once all readings had been triple-checked, and the dizzyness from the impromptu champagne breakfast dissipated, she wondered why the SETI people at Mauna Kea had not earlier found hints of intelligent life there in their optical scans. Whatever those aliens did for a living, it seemed not to affect their atmosphere. They also had not tried to make contact before. Or else those fools who had always ridiculed her at symposia scanned with their eyes firmly shut.

* * *

Communication proved to be easy, requiring no time and manageable amounts of energy, thanks to Mr Stark's donation of an arc reactor. The real problem was understanding.

After three months of sending messages to and fro, the operating crews on either side knew the masses and chemical composition of each other's planet, stars and bodies, the lengths of their respective days and years (given as a multiple of the fundamental transition of the hydrogen atom), and many other technical data, but could still not say a simple „Nice to meet you!". In all honesty, Jane's team did not even know whether the Gliesenians _could_ speak. Maybe they were tactile, or telepathic.

* * *

Sitting in her tiny, cramped office space between stacks of books and coffee-stained papers, Jane took out her little black journal once more and stared at the worldtree Thor had drawn so long ago. Nine realms, he had said, but named only five of them. Back then, his clumsy, fumbled explanation had sounded so childish to her scientific mind she had not pressed for information. Now she could kick herself for that. Did they know of this newly contacted planet in Asgard? Did they know its inhabitants, could they have translated?

She wondered how Thor fared in Asgard these days. Had he forgotten her? He had not tried to contact her since Puente Antiguo.

The door swung open and, without knocking, the famous Tony Stark strolled in. „Hello Red Sonja. Pining for Conan, are we? Cheer up, here's Iron Man to the rescue – and, mind you, they call me that for a reason, if I do say so myself." Someone shoved him from behind.

„Stow it, Tony." An unkempt man in a crinkly shirt shuffled forward, extending a hand. „Hi Miss Foster. I'm Bruce Banner. Tony and I would like to help with your work, if that's ok for you."

„I pay most of it anyway" Stark grumbled. „Stupid ESO guys are always short of funds. Currency crisis, Swiss Franc exchange course, Greece, you name it."

Banner ignored him. „We would have come earlier, but things in Latveria kept us."

„A country of opportunity for scrap metal dealers these days" Stark interjected cheerfully, leafing through Jane's notes and paper printouts.

„So, your new friends. Roughly a third our size; higher water content. Way less calcium – no bones, that means – less iron, more copper. You're talking to some octopus here, mark my words. Kraken or kråken, Mrs Norse God, your expertise on the Ragetti question?"

With some difficulty, Jane closed her mouth. The man was a genius.

Looking at one of the cup-sized brown rings on the paper sheets against the light, the billionaire asked: „Is there coffee, Janeway?"

* * *

Some weeks of feverish working with the equipment shipped in two containers followed. Stark went for direct visual communication, but muddled with their linguistically handicapped data exchange as well.

Two hours of research and a twenty-minutes rant made it clear to everyone in the facility that the Gliesenians' „language" was not sound-based, so sending them a blueprint for a grammophone was the most stupid idea since non-alcoholic beer.

In short time, Stark got confirmation from the other side that „person to person information transfer on home planet" came in fact coded by „electromagnetic radiation" (adding a wavelenghts range largely within the visible spectrum for the human eye) and „four-dimensional relative position thereof".

In other words: colours, in patterns over time, as he informed the SHIELD agents who were by now swarming the facility. The scientists did not seem to mind them much, since all data were meant for publication anyway, and more people commuting to and from Antofagasta guaranteed a steady supply of fresh rolls, beer and other essentials.

Jane did mind. As much as she congratulated Coulson for having survived his near-death experience thanks to that healing stone Thor had given SHIELD for research, she was still angry about his dismissive treatment and confiscation of her equipment. She ignored him pointedly.

The Gliesenian contact person sent a data packet that took all night to process, twice wrecking the computer. Out came an 80+ pages printout of wavelength sequences and coordinates. Stark and Banner concluded it was some personal description, like a name. They called him „Spotty".

There was no way to encode a description of Jane in a similar fashion. Eventually, both sides agreed on „First Contacted Operator" for her and „First Contacting Operator" for Spotty. Then, they set a date and time for the first direct visual communication.


	2. Chapter 2

Shortly before that joyous occasion, a certain Aesir prince showed up.

The reunion was a bit awkward for Jane at first, which puzzled Thor, who insisted he had kept his word and returned to her with all haste. They came to the slightly painful conclusion that a year and some months were an insignificantly short period of time for the Aesir, but not for humans.

To cheer „lady Jane" up, the god of thunder handed her a gift he had brought from Asgard, which he had put quite some thought into, as he professed. „I had a translation spell placed on it, in the case that you could not read runes. This volume will speak to you in the all-tongue."

With his best puppy dog face, the blonde continued: „I remembered you are interested in the workings of the world tree and such scholarly things. That is why I selected this book, which I remembered from long ago when my brother started his studies. I have myself no interest in these complicated matters – a warrior needs not know of such things. But you, as a student of witchcraft and other science, might find it to your liking."

Jane giggled. Witchcraft? Would a physics student in Asgard learn to fly on a broom? Or did that count as aircraft construction engineering?

Banner pushed his glasses higher up his nose, and the three scientists crowded around the extraterrestrial booklet. Gingerly, Jane touched the cover, inlayed with silvery runes, and turned to the first page of parchment. „Greetings, dear reader! We are happy you have taken an interest in the workings of the world tree and the nine realms." a pleasant female voice sounded.

„That's Sigyn, one of the librarians." Thor explained. „She used to study with my brother."

As Jane leafed through the book, one hologram after the other popped up: Yggdrasil with the squirrel Ratatosk running down it, the dragon Nidhögg gnawing on its roots, a close-up of Midgard with some cave people running from tall blue aliens by a glacier; each accompanied by simple comments in the pleasant voice. („The Frost Giant monsters of Jotunheim repeatedly tried to take over Midgard and freeze it like their own world, killing countless humans there who were too primitve to defend themselves.")

Stark was busy taking energy readings of the magic at work; they'd certainly investigate this book in detail later. But for the moment – this clearly was not an astrophysics textbook. „Does it have any formulae?" Jane asked, looking up hopefully.

The book itself answered: „For the advanced reader, we recommend Myrddin of Alfheim's „Magic Basics"."

„Well done, Point Break." Stark patted the huge Asgardian's bicep. „You've brought us „The How and Why Wonder Book of the World Tree". Aren't we all grateful, children? Now, back to the calamari."


	3. Chapter 3

„You must be mistaken. Yours is the only inhabited planet in the Midgard realm. Of that I am certain."

Jane had spent some hours going over their current project with Thor, hoping he might know something about that civilization they had newly made contact with. Explaining where that planet Gliese 581 d was located in relation to Earth had proved difficult. Obviously, constellations were different looking from Asgard (if Asgard was even in the same galaxy, or universe), and instead of lightyears or Earth's distance from the sun, they used something called „Ymir's strides" to measure great distances, but Thor could not convert that into a multiple of a proton's diameter, or anything else they could use for relation. At last, Jane took to describing the planet in question: a waterworld, larger than earth, quite close, circling its red dwarf star on a close orbit.

„I think I know that world of which you speak." the thunder god said at long last. „We call it Hvalstjörn. We used to go whaling there a lot when we were younger, my friends and I. It is great fun, luring the animals to the surface with song, as Fandral is very good at, then calling lightning down on them."

Jane turned a little green as her lover proceeded to give a vivid desciption of the Asgardian equivalent of blast fishing, from the rollercoaster ride on the waves through flying chunks of coral reef to finned bodies writhing in their death throes. Bruce was massaging his temples, while Tony hastily uncorked a wine bottle.

„I take it you stopped fishing there some time ago?" Bruce asked after a while.

„We haven't in a while, friend." answered Thor. „Ever since my brother's second banishment there he's been trying to convice us dragging the boat to the bifröst site was too much of a hazzle. In hindsight, I wonder was he planning anything there, when he'd just brought fire to your far ancestors ..."

„Wait, what? Your nutjob brother attacked Earth before and you guys let him have another go?"

„He has not attacked your realm before. He did as I said: Brought your ancestors fire – the lore of how to cause and kindle flames, and use them in their cooking and their hunting. He did so in his bird form, as to hide his tricks from our father, but Heimdall overheard it when the the mortals praised his name ..."

„You're pulling our legs here, Thor, aren't you?" Bruce asked, while Jane at the same time snorted and said: „Thor, you're not serious. Our ancestors have been using fire for a million years or so, and those were homo erectus then – you know, primitve early humanoids, not like us yet. Smaller brains, flintstone handaxes, couldn't speak yet, ..."

„Speak, they could." Thor interrupted. The humans gawked. „What I said was truth, Jane. Those people – yes, they had not many words yet, other than for rain and fire, for danger, family and some plants they gathered, yet they praised my brother for the knowledge he had brought them, despite our father's ruling that all mortals must be left to make their own inventions. Odin was furious with Loki."

„Thor? How old are you?"

„Time is different in the Realm Eternal, dear Jane. We do not count it like your kind do. We mark it by events worth remembering. Father told me that your realm, the Midgard universe, was created to celebrate my birth."

Bruce coughed. Tony slumped down heavily on the fax machine, hands slack, wine dripping down his Armani suit trousers.

Thor spun a long, wild tale for them. Life in their galaxy had supposedly first originated on Mars, which he called Jarnheim. That planet drying out, Heimdall had transferred some water and submersed organisms to other nearby planets. On Frigga's request, not Thor's, who – just having reached maturity – was more interested in getting to know fair maidens on Alfheim than in 'gardening' at the time. Loki had shown quite some interest back then, though, and they'd called him a mommy's boy for it. Mortal life had developed splendidly, particularly on Midgard, which therefore became synonymic with the entire realm, or universe. As soon as creatures worth hunting had evolved, they'd spread Earth's then fauna and flora to other planets once more, where some species took hold, others not, and allowed the successful ones to proceeded on their own paths there.

Going through pictures, the scientists found out that the 'whales' Thor so liked hunting were rather something like a liopleurodon, a kind of short-necked plesiosaur.

A thought struck Jane: „Thor, you said you stopped whaling on that planet after Loki's second banishment. What was he banished for the first time?"

„For defying the Allfather's orders of course. What else would it be? I was furious with him then as well, though in hindsight, he might have been too young to understand that what he did was wrong."

„Thor! What _did_ he do?"

„He taught those – what did you call them? You had a picture in your encyclopspedia we looked at, which resembled their heads a bit. Veloci-Bird-of-Prey? Like those, but feathered. They caught my brother's eye one day when we were here, hunting the great three-horned beasts. What an adventure that was! One bull charged me. Larger than a bilgesnipe he was, dust clouds rose from his trampling feet. I took him by the horns and ..."

„Thor. Thor! _What_ did Loki teach the velociraptors?"

„Why, script. He has always been bookish."

The god did not put it like that, but the three got the impression Odin had reset Thor's toy world by asteroid after Loki's interference. Stark ordered a selection of Scotch single malts, to be delivered within the hour, and if they had to charter an airplane, no matter the costs.

„Don't fear, my friends! Nothing untowards shall happen to you, now that you have your own civilization." boomed the thundergod. „Have I not sworn to protect you?"

They talked a little more about astrophysics. The resident alien could confirm that the Midgard universe was expansive, whereas Asgard's was cyclic, but had no idea what that entailed. When Tony mentioned 'Big Freeze' – the theory that the universe might end in maximum entropy – Thor launched a rant about Frost Giants who had messed with Earth, causing the Ice Age.

Bruce asked whether Thor had ever hunted mammoth or woolly rhinos, which the ice age had brought forth, if he so loved hunting. Tony amended that with the inevitable joke about the drunken time-traveller sent out to screw a Neanderthal woman and kill a cavebear. They were into the third bottle between them. Topics switched from girls to hunting to sports cars or race horses to girls from then on. Jane retired quitely, then Bruce.

* * *

The next day, despite the core team being badly hungover, the scientists gathered in the prepared transmission room, with champagne, sparklers and paper streamers at hand to celebrate.

Thor was there as guest of honour, though he still insisted their claculations must be wrong, since there was no intelligent life there. Or else maybe some Chitauri had landed in that place, or Elves, or Jötnar. Coulson and his heavily armed agents hid in an adjacent room, just in case. Chilean troops camped outside, now on high alert.

The first pictures coming through were very dark. Stark fiddled madly with the controls to improve contrast. Some moments later, the scientists had live feed of the control room on the other side.

A large … cave? With porous walls of sickly yellow colour, tunnels leading away, perhaps the inside of a giant sponge? Slime-screens along the walls and ceiling, gently fluttering in the current, showed stellar maps, unreadable patterns of couloured dots (some of them scrolling rapidly), and a schematic picture of the Earth and its moon, viewed from the south pole.

Floating in front of the screens were several octopuses, all of them of reddish skin colour, probably showing their excitement (Jane had read up about such species a little), some rapidly flashing dots and cicles of various colour over their bodies, probably chatting.

Each one held a pre-opened clam in one tentacle. The one in the middle (that must be Spotty) was gesturing with three arms as the first picture came through, looking up at whatever they used for a camera, raising, with a fourth arm, his(?) clam as if in salute.

The scientists raised their glasses and cheered. Thor laughed and drank deeply, raising his hammer with the other hand.

Spotty and his(?) comrades bleached grey and dropped their clams. A moment of shock, then he(?) convulsed, spewing ink. Then the connection was shut off.

„Blast fishing, big guy?" Stark commented.


	4. Chapter 4

Convincing Thor that non-humanoid species could be intelligent proved difficult. Koko the gorilla didn't do the trick. („But Jane, she is humanoid! Hardly different form your own ancestors a little while ago.")

Dolphins didn't. („They are not speaking. If they were, I could understand them through the Alltongue. Stop jesting, Jane; that is my brother's part, and he's a nuisance.")

Finally, Alex the grey parrot managed. After those videos, the thunderer looked deeply troubled.

„But then – but then – we made a grave mistake, sending my brother to that place. Whatever will he do to those innocent Hvalstjörnlings? All our father intended was for Loki to spend some time away in some uninhabited place, to calm down and forget about his grudges. We never knew there was civilization there."

With quite some effort, they managed to convince him not to return to Asgard and not to tell Odin. At least not right away. Sure, should there be indications that Loki was planning something particularly heinous – but unsure as they were about the situation, they'd rather not give the old man the idea that another planet needed a reset.

Two days later, the Gliesenians called again. There was a new octopus now besides Spotty: somewhat smaller, blue, with very different patterns of ridges all over the body, and green-eyed.

The other octopuses present all curled in and bleached reverently around him(?). A few flashes of green magic, and they had a translation program going.

Gliese wished to initiate a planet federation and a star fleet to explore, but decided to postpone that, now that their culture-bringer was with them, who had been myth for ages. Celebrations first.

Earth was fine with that. If they had to wait until Loki would be back in Asgard, they wouldn't mind. Some scientists took to checking how to communicate with Spotty or someone else directly without Loki overhearing, to warn them of what the god had done to Earth with the Chitauri, but that would take a while before they could be sure.

Thor got bored quickly when there was nothing to fight, and Jane had little time beside her work, and accompanied Clint and Natasha on a mission against 'the doctor of doom'.

* * *

Later the same year, Jane and Tony were awarded the Loki Prize in Engineering, together with Spotty. For the first time in the history of Gliese, Loki himself handed out the prizes, and they had live feed.

Some other Gliesenian, flushing orange, received the prize in medicine (for improved cold water ventilation around eggs), another that in magic (something basic about holograms), and two more that in flyting, after something like an epic rap battle in colour flashes.

A small parcel was dropped out of the wormhole, containing two mother-of-pearl statuettes of a green-eyed octopus. They finally cheered with clams and champagne.

* * *

„So, it all comes down to daddy giving the older son a pet universe, and telling the younger son he may play with his brother's toys if he asks really nicely?" Bruce asked, dejectedly, polishing his glasses.

„I ask you not to tell anyone." Agent Coulson replied. „There's no reason to distress people."

„How do you feel all about this then, Red Sonya?" Stark chipped in.

„I'll go with the scientific method." she replied. „Check whether all he told us really is the truth. Let's not act on hypotheses when there seems to be no hurry. Let's get the core facts first."

Tony Stark was fairly sure he and 'Janeway' would get the Nobel Prize in Physics also – and what a satisfaction that would be after they had cheated him out of his own new element he'd wished to name 'Antonium'. But that committee was so slow, it might take some decades yet. No matter. In the meantime, he could work out his own regulations for a Stark Prize trust fund to award a prize in aviation engineering. Or defeating supervillains.


End file.
